Sounds a whole lot like all the other major religions in that every being has a soul that lives forever. Could it be that L Ron Hubbard just 'borrowed' his beliefs from the bible?

He borrowed the same wishful thinking that every other religion is based on.

reality-based:

He borrowed the same wishful thinking that every other religion is based on.

The wishful thinking stuff can work both ways. I recall hearing about Richard Dawkins actually saying one of the appeals of atheism is that it allowed him to screw around on his wife with the happy confidence of no afterlife repercussions.

There's not much that's biblical about Scientology. He may have borrowed the idea of an afterlife -- which is a prevailing idea in religion generally, but I don't see anything that comes specifically from Christianity or Judaism.

bayoudawg:

Sounds a whole lot like all the other major religions in that every being has a soul that lives forever. Could it be that L Ron Hubbard just 'borrowed' his beliefs from the bible?

No, he stole more of his ideas from Hinduism and Buddism, not Western traditions. Through in a lot of sci-fi outer space mumbo jumbo and there you have it.

Chistianity and Judaism stole plenty of their concepts from the people of the earliest known written religious material-namely Gilgamesh from the Sumarian civilization (modern day Iraq). In those writings you can find Noah and his ark, the legend of Adam and Eve, and a whole lot more-just different names-and ALL written well before any known copy of the Old Testament. The fact is that all religions are an evolving (or not) continuation of what came before.

The ancient Sumarians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans were not stupid-their philosophical works show as much curiosity about life and death as we have today. The continuing efforts of many religions including christianity to say "my religion is the only religion" are a joke. Who knows when Christianity will be left behind for something new and better, yet dont be supised if aspects of it would also be present in the next generation of religion.

"The wishful thinking stuff can work both ways. I recall hearing about Richard Dawkins actually saying one of the appeals of atheism is that it allowed him to screw around on his wife with the happy confidence of no afterlife repercussions."

That just means he's an asshole, not that he's thinking wishfully. I don't screw around on my wife, despite not fearing afterlife repercussions. Why? Well, for one thing, I fear repercussions in THIS life, and not just if I'm caught. I value our relationship highly, and I know from prior experience how toxic and worrisome such secrets can be, even if they're still secret.

The appeal of agnostic atheism for me is that it doesn't require me to suspend my disbelief and accept some bizarre hypothesis on faith. It doesn't purport to answer any unanswerable questions. That's appeal enough - not to mention, I simply find it impossible NOT to be an atheist.

"agnostic atheism"

According to Dictionary.com, "agnostic" is one who "holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience."

An "atheist" is one who "denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings." [Same source]

I wonder, how one can both believe that the truth of God is unknown and deny the existence of supreme beings...

"I simply find it impossible NOT to be an atheist."

Huh? You changed your mind between the beginning and end of the paragraph?

"Who knows when Christianity will be left behind for something new and better, yet dont be supised if aspects of it would also be present in the next generation of religion."

We will never see that day. Christianity rules the world! It's all these copy cat religions that will die because they continue to evolve to show compromise to fit one's lifestyle and do not show obedience to God, just the "tradition of the religion."

Athiests don't worry about the afterlife. They are already dead!

We will never see that day. Christianity rules the world! It's all these copy cat religions that will die because they continue to evolve to show compromise to fit one's lifestyle and do not show obedience to God, just the "tradition of the religion."

We may not see the day, but it will come just as Christianity left Judiusm in its day so to will Christianity be left behind. Until one day we understand that if a God is out there we could not begain to understand it.

We will never see that day. Christianity rules the world! It's all these copy cat religions that will die because they continue to evolve to show compromise to fit one's lifestyle and do not show obedience to God, just the "tradition of the religion."

Well how many problems are there with that statement? First of all, there are numerically more Muslims-so if we go by a count of heads of "believers" Cbristianity has lost already.

But look at BOTH Christianity and Islam. Already there are official schisms within the religions themselves-Sunni vs Muslim/Catholic vs Protestant and numerous divisions of those divisions too. The evolution from the original religions has already started and this is just the beginning for these religions in the sence that there was clearly religion long before BOTH of them-one would think "GOD" as we are told of him would have been there in the beginning-not Zeus and Olympus gang or Rah the Sun God and his attendents not to mention a plethera of other gods and demi gods before, during, and after these more recognized names.

And as for the question of how one cam be both an atheist and an agnostic-most people who are atheists are confused. They disbelieve in God because there is no evidence in their mind or eyes of God. Yet an agnostic is not a true believer-he or she is open to the idea of letting God reveal himself-but at this time God has not and thus they like their atheist cousins are operating on the POSSIBLE fact that there is no God. Just as God is possible so possible too is his lack of existence. PROOF of God-something so absolutely obvious and subtantive that it would be impossible to deny His existence isnt here or there would be neither atheists or agnostics.

But then one dvision of Agnostics is a loose connection of "spiritual" people who havent got a book, a church, or a God per se but allow for the divine that truly seem to reach many people in music, art, or other ways-through their lives to be frank. That is where best to see evidence of anything significant and real.

"I wonder, how one can both believe that the truth of God is unknown and deny the existence of supreme beings..."

It's easy. One simply does not assume that one is definitely right.

My belief is that no "supreme being" exists. However, I know that the truth of that matter is unknowable.

See how easy that is? Well, it's not so easy for people who have been conditioned since birth to confuse belief with knowledge, as religions that glorify "faith" do.

"Huh? You changed your mind between the beginning and end of the paragraph? "

No. I find it impossible to believe that a "supreme being" exists. Thus, I am an atheist and find it impossible not to be. I do not, however, find it impossible to acknowledge that such a thing is actually unknowable. Thus, I am also an agnostic.

Not to mention, I also am unsure about whether our conventional conception of a "supreme being" is really even the right question to be asking. This adds to my "agnosticism", while at the same time strengthening my "atheism".

As utterly unbelievable and unsupported as I find the notion of a "supreme being" with an identity and a will and desires and emotions like ours who communicates with us and directly acts in our lives - this is my atheism - as the conception of "supreme being" becomes more and more abstract, I find it less and less laughable.

Agnostic atheism. There you go. The dictionary is a useful tool, but your brain is even better.